Students age 14–18 with an interest in learning about the outdoors are encouraged to attend the Nebraska Youth Range Camp that will be held June 10–14.

The camp at the Nebraska State 4-H Camp in Halsey is celebrating its 50th anniversary.

The Nebraska Youth Range Camp consists of a four-and-a-half day curriculum that appeals tp an array of interests including rangeland management, conservation, ecology, animal science, and wildlife, said Nadine Bishop, a specialist with the Natural Resouces Conservation Service.

With 50 years to perfect and evolve this curriculum, every student, no matter what prior experience they have, will learn information that will help them become more aware of Nebraska’s most prevalent land use, Bishop said.

Rangelands cover nearly 50% of Nebraska and nearly 60% of the United States. These numbers convey the dominance of this landuse, but recently there have been several political issues regarding the management of these rangelands.

This further emphasizes the reason it is important to educate the youth so we may enable them to become proficient and effective leaders in resource management as well as educated voters.

The students that attend Range Camp will be actively involved with field activities, lectures, hand-on experience, and recreational leadership and team-building activities that are all led by up to 20 of Nebraska’s most respected and dedicated leaders, teachers, and professionals from various agencies, colleges, and universities.

Each student will be sent home with a binder that is filled with educational materials and a t-shirt.

Financial sponsorship is available. Every student that attended last year received a substantial level of sponsorship. Interested individuals can find more information, the Range Camp application, and the brochure by visiting the Nebraska Society for Range Management website at www.nesrm.org and then clicking on the Nebraska Youth Range Camp link on the left of the page or sending an email to shelly_ann7@hotmail.com.

Applications need to be submitted by May 24.

Attendance is capped at 65 students and individuals will be selected on a first come first served basis. Range Camp is an event that is made possible through the Nebraska Section of the Society for Range Management with assistance from several Nebraska ranches, the Nebraska Grazing Lands Coalition, the Sandhills Task Force, several of Nebraska’s Natural Resource Districts, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension Service, and many volunteers.